


Sunburnt Memories

by TheDarkFlygon



Series: Prism (Pride-Themed Oneshots) [4]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black 2 & White 2 | Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 Versions
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, LGBTQ Themes, Memories, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Sickfic, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24563335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDarkFlygon/pseuds/TheDarkFlygon
Summary: As the sun is shining brightly outside, Cheren and Bianca are stuck inside, musing about the past (and the present).
Relationships: Bel | Bianca/Cheren
Series: Prism (Pride-Themed Oneshots) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769908
Kudos: 5





	Sunburnt Memories

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaaand I'm one-day late. What a surprise. /s
> 
> I can't believe I'm saying this, but it'd seem like I forgot I was a DualRival shipper back in the day. I recently discovered I had joined a group for the ship on DA almost a decade ago and, yet, had no memory of that whatsoever. I'm not even sure if it popped in my Watch-related inbox at any point. That was odd.
> 
> Today's prompt was The Sun, so I tried to be a little more creative than last year and have as much stupid sun imagery as possible. Life's too short not to be redundant and heavy-handed, I guess.  
> gcb cheren trans, that's all this fic is. That just kinda happened and I tried to prevent my brain from that again, but guess what? didn't work!  
> I need to state this is indeed Glass Cannon Blues because Magdalene is here and, well, I love my funky little black-and-white Gardevoir, but she is a GCB character and I need to make that clear. For more info on her, see my other fic "Black Maiden". No, I still haven't finished chapter 2 of it. send help.  
> Also, since this is Pokemanz/GCB, I took some liberty with transitionprocesses and stuff, because screw realism. yeet.

This scene feels like it belongs to another year, another period of their lives. The combined smells of medicine, sweat and sweet perfumes hang in the air while the sun peeps through the windows and the openings in the curtains, leaving sunburn patterns all over the wooden floor of the bedroom. The sounds of heavy breathing, of towels getting twisted, of coughing fits and of soft-spoken words dance in the room.

It, however, also feels like things have changed, since the times this is bringing him back to, starting with the benevolent aura floating above their heads.

“Maggie, can you go and refresh the water in the bucket, please?”

As soon as Bianca gives her order (not without a smile, as usual), the Gardevoir standing next to the bed nods and leaves the room, lifting the bucket with her telepathic abilities. Nothing out of the ordinary to see here.

“That makes me think of something,” she then muses out loud. “Does Maggie know about that?”

“About what?” He replies before muffling a cough.

“You know, _that_ thing?”

“Bianca, I don’t think…” He gets cut off by his own cough. “I don’t think Magdalene understands human biology that much…”

“Ah, I guess that makes sense. Though, if you think about it, wouldn’t some female Kirlia want to evolve into Gallade, and would feel frustrated over it?”

“Honestly? Too much to think about, right now…”

It’s not that Bianca is asking something irrelevant: it’s that this really isn’t the moment. His head feels stuffed enough as it is and his eyes hurt if they even glance at the sunlight for too long, he doesn’t need complex questions to worsen it. He’ll ask Magdalene to write a note of it later, if he remembers to do so. Maybe she’ll have an opinion on the matter.

“Hey, Cheren. Do you remember when you told me about that for the first time?”

“Of course I do…” Well, kind of. It’s a hazy memory. “Why bring that up now…?”

“Because it was a day like today. We were in your room, there was a bright sun outside, and I’d be trying to keep your fever down as much as possible, and I’d panic, and you’d tell me to stop panicking, and it didn’t help!”

“And…?”

He doesn’t see where she’s going with this. Well, truth be told, he never really knows where she’s going. That’s what makes her so interesting to speak to and hang around with, as much as his past self found her tiring.

“I’m just thinking back to how much things have changed since then. Back there, I’d cry all the time, and you’d barely admit anything to any of us. “I’m fine”, “it’s all good”, “I know what I’m doing”, all that stuff. That was before we journeyed through Unova too!”

Have things really changed this much? He still loves to say “I’m fine” to his students, only to faint in Angela’s office. That’s kind of how he landed himself in this situation.

“That time, though, it was different. When you told me you didn’t feel right, you didn’t try to deny it with handwaved excuses later. You just told me you had never felt really right and that you were scared of change, that day.”

“I did…?” His memories of that time are really blurry. They got smeared by the fever he was possessed by that day.

“It was scary and I… didn’t really understand what you were telling me. I was scared for you. It was like everything I had known about you was a lie!”

“You tell me…”

“I know, I sound naïve because I’ve got no idea of what’s going on! It was even worse back then!”

She’s cute.

Bianca shakes her head, giving him a smile again.

“Still, I’m glad you told me about it, that day. That way, we were able to help you overcome it! Well, in part, at least, I guess…! I guess you’ve still a got on your plate, as you’ve always had…”

She’s kind.

“You know, I also remember you were frustrated because you couldn’t go outside with Hilbert, Hilda and me, so we all took turns watching over you. Of course, I just ended up being in the room when you confessed, because I doubt you did so out of your own volition, considering your condition back there… You’re probably frustrated to see how bright the sun is shining today too.”

She’s probably not realized how important she was to him, even compared to their childhood friends. Pin it on his teenage hormones going wild despite his eternal refusal to acknowledge their little thing. (And his treatment doesn’t help with the matter, far from it). Still, he doesn’t see himself acknowledge it in front of her right here and there, not when he’s covered in sweat and his voice sounds nothing like it should…

“I’m more frustrated about…” Phlegm exits his chest. Magdalene, who just came back it’d seem, makes another bucket levitate next to his month, putting the one filled with water back where it was. “…about class.”

“Geez, Cheren, you never change, do you! That shouldn’t be your priority right now! You’ve always been focused on literally everything but yourself!”

Well, yeah, that’s kind of the point. He’s got duties to attend to and he’s not attending them. It’s beyond frustrating, but on the other hand, he won’t escape his place when his childhood friend has invited herself over to loom over him like a mother hen and when Magdalene is doing nothing but making sure he won’t exit his bedroom today. Now, how he got to that point, it dates to a long, long time ago…

And Bianca’s distorting face that even the sunlight can’t obscure out tells him she’s finally getting it too.

“Wait a second…” Her voice is a little shaky, a little uncertain.

Magdalene turns her head to the side, eyeing her directly, presumably to listen or to read her thoughts. He hopes she isn’t trying to do the second: he doesn’t want her to give Bianca a terrific headache. His are more than enough.

“Back then, you’d always tell us becoming the Unova Champion was your way to show everyone what you were capable of, that nobody would deny who you were. But, in reality, you were trying to evade the question altogether, weren’t you, Cheren?”

This is about the worst time possible to answer such questions but, really, has he ever been a man with well-adjusted priorities? Not really, it’d seem.

“…somewhat,” is all he replies.

Bianca crosses her arms, clearly unsatisfied with his vague reply. Well, if he were her, trying to understand what in Unova could’ve been crossing his mind every single time he was doing something weird, he’d be frustrated too. More frustrated than she is, actually. She’s always been more patient, more laidback than he’s ever been, that’s for sure.

“So, compared to two years ago… Do you feel better, Cheren?” She asks again.

“Ah, of course… Nobody’s called me “miss” in such a long time, I think I forgot how that felt like…”

He does feel like shit at the moment, but that’s more of a virus problem than a “I don’t know who I am and I don’t think I ever will” problem. That can’t be worse than not knowing what the point of your own life was.

“I hope it’ll continue to improve then,” she tells him with a smile, and he tries to reciprocate as much as his condition is going to let him do. “But, if you ever need to vent, don’t keep it to yourself, dummy!”

The chuckle that exits his throat is genuine, as much as his throat hates him for it.

“In that regard, you haven’t changed either, Bianca,” he replies. “I’m… still surprised you’re not annoyed.”

“I’d rather be annoyed than worried. Plus, the Professor has given me the day off as long as I observe Maggie a little!”

He sighs. Juniper’s still obsessed over Magdalene’s specificities as a crossbreed, isn’t she?

“How nice of her…” He replies sarcastically, face burying itself inside his own pillow.

He watches Bianca rise up from the chair in the corner of his eye.

“Wait, where… Where you’re going…?”

His hand is kind of trying to clench her. He’s not sure of what he’s trying to accomplish.

“Well, I’d figure you’re tired of hearing me babble about our childhood. Plus, you probably want to rest, and I need to ask Maggie a couple questions… Don’t worry, Stoutland will be here to watch over you!”

That’s not the issue.

“I don’t mind that… Just ask Magd’lene questions here…”

“You don’t want me to leave, do you?” Her voice is softer than usual. Too soft, in a way. It’s like silk hiding steel. She sits back down. “If it doesn’t bother you, then, I guess I can stay here!”

The smirk on his mouth can’t possibly be helping his case, but who cares? He’s tired and her presence is nice. He feels safe around her. He doesn’t have to hide anything around her, since she knows every little incriminating detail about him.

That hasn’t changed since they were children, has it? Bianca has always been the one he felt the most comfortable around, despite how different they are. Maybe these differences were the reasons why they were so close despite everything he’s thrown at her face since their births. As long as he doesn’t need to admit he’s the younger of the two…

Bianca is like the sun. When she shines, she’s warm but, when she doesn’t, everything around and about her is cold and desolate, until she comes back to her usual optimism. It can’t have been easy to find her own way in life when the twins and he kept shadowing her without intent. If he could go back in time to fix that, he’d do so without too much of an afterthought.

She’s like the sun, so she’s familiar and comfortable to be around; at the difference that he isn’t scared of being sunburnt anymore. They’ve both gotten past it, after all. There’s no point in trying to pretend she’ll hurt him when he’s been the one hurting her without ever intending to and, despite having apologized about it before, it’s still something that stands.

But, unlike the sun that almost claimed his life when he was already burdened with a fever, Cheren is a bit infatuated with Bianca, and he’s pretty sure he isn’t worth telling her about it.


End file.
